NEW YORK—The December antiquities sales in New York delivered a stunner that, at least for a while, turned the eyes of the whole art world on this normally quiet, scholarly corner of the market: A 3¼-inch-high ancient Mesopotamian stone lioness with a muscle-bound human torso that Art & Antiques showcased as one of the December 2007 Objects of Desire. It sold for $57,161,000, the record not only for an antiquity but also for any work of sculpture, anytime, anywhere.

The price, achieved at Sotheby’s on December 5, so totally outstripped—indeed, negated—any existing criteria of value in the antiquities world that veteran experts were simply stunned. It was exactly double the record $28.6 million paid at Sotheby’s in June for a bronze Roman Artemis with a stag. Dealer Jerome Eisenberg of Royal-Athena Galleries in New York says, “The general consensus in the trade is that before this year, the lioness would have been valued from $4 million to $6 million.” Sotheby’s estimated the piece, known as the Guennol Lioness, at $14–$18 million.

It soon became clear that the estimate was too modest. As the contest unfolded, the $25 million mark was reached, then it was down to two people, one on the phone, the other in the room, and the bidding went back and forth, in $1 million increments. The man in the room, wearing a plaid tweed suit and half-moon reading glasses, stood in a side aisle calmly raising his finger over and over again until the party on the phone dropped out at $50 million. The winning bidder was Geoffrey Turner, a relatively obscure English dealer and archaeologist based in Brussels, who was acting on behalf of an anonymous client. Turner would not say whether it was an individual or an institution, but insider speculation has it that the buyer is from the United Arab Emirates—either Abu Dhabi or Dubai—and may be planning a museum of Near Eastern art. Turner would neither confirm nor deny that.

As for the appeal of the lioness herself, Turner is more voluble: “Look into its eyes, as I did before the sale. You’ll see that it’s not only exceptionally strong, but it just has a beauty that sets it apart from almost anything else. It is unique, by a long way.” The statue’s tiny size and unusually naturalistic rendering, coupled with the fact that it has descended from the very dawn of civilization, are part and parcel of its seductive power.

The identity of the Guennol Lioness is almost as mysterious as that of its purchaser. Archaeologists believe it was made around 3200–3000 B.C. in the city of Susa, in southwestern Iran, and belongs to the Proto-Elamite culture. It may have been found near Baghdad, where it could have been brought by ancient traders. The holes carved into it might have been for a cord to pass through so that it could be worn around the neck as an amulet. The only thing known for certain is that by 1931, the lioness had come into the possession of New York dealer Joseph Brummer. He sold it to Alastair Bradley Martin and his wife, Edith, who in 1948 loaned it to the Brooklyn Museum, where it resided until this sale. The Martins built up a large, idiosyncratic and very high-quality collection of art from ancient times through the 20th century, which they called the Guennol Collection (guennol is Welsh for martin, the bird), and the proceeds of the sale of the lioness will go to benefit a charitable trust they established.